Pondy admits to surreal moment captaining Fleetwood vs BVB

It has passed the midway point of Fleetwood Town’s pre-season adventure in Germany but the hard work is far from over.

Graham Alexander’s team have another three days of hard work on German shores before they fly back to England on Sunday.

With a clash against Alemannia Aachen next up on Saturday, centre back Nathan Pond is adamant the Cod Army will put in another strong shift following their display against Dortmund on Wednesday.

Pond, who signed a new contract with the Club during the summer, captained and completed the full 90 minutes against BVB and he admitted it was quite a surreal moment playing the German giants.

The 30-year-old said: “It is good to get back playing after a lot of training and running. It was great to captain the side against Dortmund.

“It was a bonus in my eyes and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was surreal when we were approaching the stadium and seeing kids in Dortmund kits.

“I know it wasn’t the first team we came up against but they had some very talented players. It was a good test overall and we will learn from the game.

“We were superb; I should have stayed on my feet but gave the first penalty away. It was a mistake in my eyes and I was disappointed with that but fortunately Chris Maxwell saved it.

“I thought we should have had a penalty too but other than that I thought it was a very organised. I thought we created the most chances but unfortunately we didn’t hit the back of the net. Overall it was a positive day.

“It rained for the first three days but we come to matchday and it is the hottest day we have had since we have been out here.

"It was a dry pitch which didn’t really help the match. Our facilities in Hennef are good. We have been doing morning runs, gym sessions and training on the pitches too. We can have no complaints.

“I am enjoying being one of the senior figures. I am passing my experience onto the younger lads especially who have come out of the development squad.

“I go and talk to them and see how they are doing. I try and lead by example in training and doing all the right things like eating and preparing correctly.

“Hopefully it will rub off onto some of the younger lads.

“We have another game coming up on Saturday but there will be a lot of hard work between now and then. We want to put in another good shift this weekend and improve from Wednesday’s match.”